In a lifetime of fly fishing, I’ve seen all faces of the sport; where some people are givers and others, takers. Friend Jeff Pill of Burbank, Los Angeles, who died recently, was a giver, a man of firm opinion, a man who believed in professional standards, and a man who believed in achieving to the best of personal ability. Best of all, Jeff loved the sport of Fly Fishing.
I first met Jeff Pill about 1990, at Lake Rotoroa Lodge, where he being guided by the late Ron Mackay (another mentor of mine). Jeff then, was a media and broadcasting expert who worked in the production of many big TV shows. In 1991, when attending my first International Fly Tackle Trade Show in Denver, Colorado, Jeff took me for lunch where we chatted for hours about Fly Fishing and about New Zealand Fly Fishing. Every guiding season in Colorado until 1996, Jeff and I would cross paths and catch-up and Jeff would mentor my progress in the Fly Fishing world.
In 2007, largely thanks to Jeff and his connections within the fly fishing clubs of Southern California, I was selected as the New Zealander to address the 8 club mega circuit, a 10 day speaking tour between Santa Barbara and San Diego. Accompanied by the ever-capable Aimee, I was on crutches after smashing my ankle to pieces in a hunting accident on ice in a cold wintry Molesworth Station - and the club even put on a wheelchair, so
